1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooking assembly, and more particularly, to a cooking assembly with an improved configuration for healthy food preparation.
2. Background
Preparation of food in various ways stems far back into human pre-history. People have used heat to prepare foods since the advent of controlled fire. Various forms of cookware and methods of heating food are conventionally used and well known.
Some methods of food preparation include grilling food, or exposing food to flame. Other methods include using cookware which is heated directly. However, it has become well-known that burning or browning food, as results from more direct heating, can introduce carcinogens. Thus, such methods are not ideal, and may be harmful to health.
Another known method of preparing certain foods is steaming. Conventional steaming cookware involves a bottom pot which holds and heats water, and a top pot having holes in its bottom surface which contains the food items intended to be cooked. Steam rising up through the holes heats the food items. However, grease and fat from various food items runs down through these holes, and is then recycled back upward toward the food.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,389,721, issued to Wanat, for example, discloses such a system in which heated water is boiled and steam rises through holes in a pot which holds food. The fats and greases in various food items is allowed to spill into the water, and in turn is recycled into the water. Furthermore, important nutrients in various food items seeps out of the food items and is lost into the water through the holes.
While this, and various other processes may be known, currently, there is no optimal manner in which to prepare food in cookware. Thus, there continues to be a need for an improved cookware assembly for healthy and optimal food preparation.